Bubble cap



D. s. ROBERTS ETAL. 7 9

BUBBLE CAP Filed April 1a, 1946 INVENTORS 5'. QM "L AT TORNEY Patented Dec. 28, 1948 BUBBLE CAP David S. Roberts, Brighton, and Robert A. De

Luca. South Boston, Mass; said De Luca. assignor to said Roberts Application April 18, 1946, Serial No. 663,001

7 Claims. 1 This invention relates to bubble cap assemblies such as are employed in fractionating columns or plate towers in the distillation processes of petroleum oils, alcohol, and other chemicals.

Such bubble cap assemblies commonly comprise a tubular riser extending upwardly from and surrounding an opening in one of the plates or trays of the plate tower, and a cap element supported by and enclosing the upper end of the riser, the lower edge of the cap element being immersed in the liquid on the plate or tray.

For the proper operation of a bubble cap assembly of this type, it is important that the cap element should be correctly positioned vertically on its supporting riser so that the lower edge of the cap, which is usually serrated or provided with a plurality of open slots, will be immersed in the liquid on the tray to the proper depth to insure the desired delivery of gas from the riser around said lower edge of the cap and through the liquid on the tray.

It is also important that the cap should be adjustable vertically on its riser so as to obtain proper flow of gas through the liquid under different conditions of pressure and liquid level on the tray.

It is also desirable that each cap should be readily removable from its riser for the purpose of cleaning or replacement.

It is, therefore, one object of our invention to provide a bubble cap assembly with a quick-action coupling between the cap element and its riser which permits the cap element to be quickly and easily detached from its riser and as quickly and easily secured thereon.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a bubble cap assembly with novel means by which the cap element can be easily adjusted vertically on its riser.

Further objects of the invention are to improve bubble cap assemblies in various ways as will be more fully hereinafter described and then' set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein we have illustrated a selected embodiment of our invention:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a bubble cap assembly embodying our invention mounted on a plate or tray, the riser being shown partly in elevation and partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective sectional view of a portion of the cap showing one element of the quick-action coupling.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cap-supporting collar which is mounted on the riser.

In the drawings, I02 indicates a portion of a bubble plate or bubble tray of a fractionating column or plate tower, said plate having a plurality of openings therethrough, one of which is indicated at I0. Rising from the plate I02 and encircling the opening I0 is the usual tubular riser I 04, the lower end of the riser being anchored in the plate I02 in any suitable way such as is commonly employed for securing the end of a tube in an aperture of a plate. In the particular illustration of our invention, the lower end II of the tube is shown as being expanded somewhat, thereby swaging said end of the tube into the opening I0.

The bubble cap element of the assembly is indicated at I06, and the lower edge I2 thereof is serrated or provided with a plurality of openended slots l3 as usual in devices of this character.

In accordance with our invention, the cap I06 is mounted on its riser I04 by means of a quick-action coupling construction which enables the cap to be quickly and easily removed from the riser and as quickly and easily installed thereon.

In the preferred form of our invention, we employ a cap supporting collar I08 which is mounted on the upper end of the riser and on which the cap I06 rests, said cap and collar having cooperating quick detachable coupling means.

The cap I06 is provided on its interior with a plurality of inwardly-directed lugs I4, the underface I5 of each lug constituting a seat which rests on the collar I08.

Said collar I08 is provided with a plurality of spaced outwardly extending projections I6 (three such projections being herein shown), each of which is formed on its outer face with screw threads IT. The cap I06 is provided on its interior with cooperating inwardly-directed extensions I8, each being provided on its inner face with screw threads I9 mating the screw threads ll of the extensions I6 of the collar.

To apply the cap to the riser, it is placed thereover in a position with the extensions I8 of the cap out of line with the extensions I6 of the collar, and after the seats I5 of the lugs I4 come into engagement with the collar, then a partial turning movement of the cap will bring the screw threads I9 on the cap into engagement with the threads H on the collar, thereby coupling the cap to the collar. The cap can thus be installed on the riser by simply dropping it into position and then giving it a partial turn.

To remove the cap from the riser. all that is necessary is to give the cap a partial turn backwardly to disconnect the threads I9 of the cap from the threads ll of the collar, after which the cap is free to be lifted off from the riser.

This quick-action coupling facilitates greatly the matter of removing any caps for cleaning or repair purposes and the installation of cleaned or new caps on the riser.

So far as the operation of this quick-action coupling is concerned, the collar I08 may be mounted on the riser I04 in any desirable way. We prefer, however, to so mount the collar on the riser that it is vertically adjustable thereon, so that by adjusting the collar on the riser the cap may be given a vertical adjustment to meet different conditions of use.

In the illustrated embodiment of our invention, the collar I08 is screw threaded to the upper end of the riser I04, for which purpose said riser is provided with the exterior screw threads 20 and the collar I08 is provided with complementary interior screw threads 2|. This construc tion has the advantage that the vertical adjust ment of the cap relative to the plate I02 or to the liquid level on said plate can be secured by screwing the collar I08 up or down on the riser.

We have provided herein means for locking the collar in its adjusted position on the riser so that said adjusted position will not be disturbed during the operation of the device. For this purpose, the mating screw threaded faces 20 and 2| of the riser and the collar are each provided with a vertical groove 22, and when these grooves register with each other they form an aperture into which the locking pin III may be inserted as shown in Fig. 2, thereby locking the collar from rotative movement on the riser.

We have also provided means for locking the cap I06 to the collar I08, and for this purpose we have herein provided one of the lugs ll of the cap with a vertical aperture 23 and have also provided one of the collar extensions I6 with a hole or recess 24 that is adapted to registerwith the aperture '23 when the cap is properly positioned on the collar. I I indicates a locking pin which when. inserted into the registering apertures 23 and 24 serves to lock the cap from turning movement on the collar.

In the'illustrated embodiment of our invention, the upper end of the aperture 23 in the cap is enlarged as shown at 26 and is interiorly screw threaded and the upper end of the locking pin H0 is similarly enlarged as shown at 21 and is provided with exterior screw threads to engage the screw threads of the enlarged end 26 of the aperture 23. The upper enlarged and of the pin H0 may be provided with a screwdriver slot 28 to provide for the easy removal of the pin by unscrewing it and to provide for screwing said pin into the enlarged upper end 26 of the opening 23.

In the operation of fractionating columns or bubble towers, it is sometimes desirable to decrease the number of bubble caps which are in use on any plate or tray, and one advantage of our invention is that it provides a construction by which any bubble cap can be readily cut out and the corresponding riser closed. This may be accomplished by simply removing the cap element I06 and the collar I08 from any riser and screwing a closure cap to the screw threaded upper end of the riser. This operation of cutting out or blanking any cap can be readily performed even after the distillation process is in operation,

4 and inasmuch as each bubble cap can be cut out individually and independently from any other bubble cap, our invention makes it possible to reduce the number of bubble caps on each tray to any desired extent.

The manner herein illustrated of mounting the cap member I06 on the riser has the further advantage that the passageway through the riser is open and unobstructed, thus allowing the gas and any liquid entrained therein to flow freely therethrough and obviating any danger of the riser becoming clogged.

While we have illustrated one embodiment of our invention, we do not wish to be limited thereto otherwise than as required by the claims.

We claim:

1. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising a tubular riser extending upwardly from said opening in the tray, said riser being free from any interior obstruction, a' cap-supporting collar carried by the riser and situated exterior thereto, and a cap element enclosing the upper end of the riser and removably supported by said collar.

2. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising a tubular riser extending upwardly from said opening in the tray, said riser being free from any interior obstruction, a cap-supporting collar carried by the riser on the exterior thereof and adjustable vertically thereon, and a cap element enclosing the upper end of the riser and removably supported by said collar.

3. A bubble cap assembly such as described in Claim I in which the cap-supporting collar encircles the riser and is screw threaded to the exterior thereof and is thereby vertically adjustable thereon.

4. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising a tubular riser extending upwardly from said opening, a cap-supporting collar on the exterior of said riser at its upper end, and a removable cap element enclosing the upper end of the riser and supported by said collar, said collar and cap element having inter-engaging interrupted screw threads by which they are held in operative relation and which permit the mounting of the cap on the collar or its disconnection therefrom by a partial turn of th cap.

5. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising a tubular riser extending upwardly from said opening, a cap-supporting collar at the upper end of the riser, said collar having spaced outwardly directed exteriorly screw threaded extensions,

and a cap element supported by said collar and having inwardly directed interiorly s'crew threaded extensions adapted to be engaged with the screw threaded extensions on the collar by a partial turn of the cap.

6. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising cap-supporting means which includes a riser extending upwardly from said opening in the tray, a portion of said cap-supporting means having exterior screw threads, and a cap element enclosing the upper end of the riser and having on its interior inwardly directed lugs provided with interior screw threads to engage said exterior screw threads, the space between the lugs providing a passage for the flow of gas.

'7. A bubble cap assembly adapted to cover an opening in a bubble tower tray and comprising a tubular riser extending upwardly from said openamas ing, a cap-supporting at its upper end and supported thereby, and a removable cap element enclosing the upper end of the riser and the collar, sald collar havlng on its exterior interrupted screw threads and the cap having on its interior complemental interrupted screw threads adapted to be engaged with the screw threads on the collar by a partial turn of the cap relative to the collar, said cap and collar having cooperating portions which limit the turnlng movement of the cap on the collar when the interrupted screw threads on the cap and collar are properly engaged.

DAVID S. ROBERTS. ROBERT A. DE LUCA.

collar encircllnz the riser nnrnnmgcns crrnn' The tollowlni references are or record in the 'flle otthls patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

2,084,726 Duey 1 June 22, 1937 2,210,808 Glltsch Aug. 6, 1940 

